Mordecai and Benson were not the only characters pulled from Quintel's college portfolio. In 2005, Quintel animated The Naive Man from Lolliland, a short centered on an aristocratic humanoid with a gigantic lollipop for a head who visits an upscale restaurant and struggles with basic social conventions. The character spoke in an archaic English accent, oblivious to the disasters occurring around him.
When Cartoon Network executives Craig McCracken and Rob Sorcher launched the Cartoonstitute development initiative in 2008, they offered indie animators rare creative freedom without executive notes. Quintel realized he had multiple compelling character sketches scattered across separate student films. Rather than inventing an entirely new ensemble from scratch, he took the lollipop gentleman from his 2005 film, christened him Pops Maellard, and placed him alongside his convenience store creatures. To complete the dynamic, Quintel invented Rigby, a hyperactive raccoon created specifically to balance Mordecai's deadpan, passive demeanor.
